Symbiotic Reviews

Wolf Alice

My Love is Cool

Year of Release: 2015

In one of the year's most auspicious debuts, London four-piece Wolf Alice manage to cram in a litany of older influences; Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Veruca Salt, along with 90s era alt-rock in general, and then combine them with slickly modern production. The confidence with which the band lay down their rapturous brand of indie power-pop is striking; and even more impressive is the fact that the songs are consistently good. Singer Ellie Roswell is the heart and soul here; penning lyrics both melancholy and optimistic, her voice at once ethereal ("Freazy") and swinging for the rafters ("You're a Germ"). Some may claim that Wolf Alice suffers from tonal schizophrenia and can't quite figure out what type of band they want to be, but it's this sense of taking their music to the brink of falling apart only to break into soaring harmonies, explosive guitars, and atmospheric detours that makes this such a special release. My Love is Cool is a one of a kind wonder that opens up a new frontier in an indie scene drowning in lazy retro appropriation.